Northampton County officials assessing district courts

View full sizeExpress-Times File PhotoA proposed redistricting plan could leave Northampton County with fewer district courts.

A Northampton County district judge might be vulnerable in a plan to reduce the number of magistrate offices statewide, according to a leading district judge in the county.

Northampton County court officials are assessing area
district courts in a redistricting process that the
Pennsylvania Supreme Court hopes will cut 10 percent of district judge offices statewide.

The office of District Judge Diane Marakovits in Northampton, meanwhile, has a statistically low caseload, said District Judge Robert Hawke, president of the Northampton
County district judges association.

Hawke said county officials have told him they are going to do what
they can to keep every court open, but the Supreme Court has the final say.

"It depends on what exactly they are looking at,"
Hawke said.

Marakovits did not return a phone message seeking comment.

Judicial
redistricting must be done every 10 years so the state can put resources
where they are needed most, according to the Administrative Office of
Pennsylvania Courts.

Hawke said the county's district judges have been
told little about what will happen.

"We've been kept in the dark about it and people are
worried they might lose their jobs," Hawke said.

Northampton County Court Administrator James Onembo said the
county received information on the redistricting process last week. The state has 539 district courts.

Locally, the team assessing the courts will consist of
Onembo, President Judge F.P. Kimberly McFadden, Deputy Court Administrator
Debra French and a Northampton County judge, Onembo said.

Onembo said the committee must have its work submitted to
the AOPC by Feb. 15. The AOPC mandates the plan be posted for at least
30 days of public comment before it is submitted.

The committee will review court data from the last six years
on criminal, civil and other case types.

Not only is the committee looking at the number of filings,
but also how long
it would take a judge to deal with each kind of case, Onembo said. For
example, criminal cases are weighted more heavily than a civil or traffic case.

"It's not a complete science," Onembo said.
"But it gives you an indication of workload."

Onembo said there are restrictions on how district courts can
be eliminated. A court cannot be disbanded during a sitting judge's term
and any redistricting must be contiguous. For example, Onembo said Lehigh
Township cannot be combined with Williams Township into a new court district.

Hawke said he doesn't think there are too many courts in the
county.

"In our county? No. In areas like Allen, East Allen,
Moore Township and Lehigh, there are a lot of developments that are planned
that could be coming in the near future," Hawke said.

The assessment isn't just about eliminating district courts,
but also making sure the courts have an equitable workload, Onembo said.

District Gay Elwell said the Special Court Judges Association
of Pennsylvania has kept an eye on the situation for more than a year.
She said she does not want to see a repeat of the 2000 redistricting, which was
considered a debacle among district judges.

Elwell said when the lines were redrawn in 2000, some
counties had incumbent judges running against fellow incumbent judges for one
seat.